Action Alert: Soda Tax and the Fiscal Cliff

From the Center for Science in the Public Interest:

A penny-per-can tax on soda and other sugary drinks would raise over $1 billion a year.

A penny-per-ounce tax on those drinks would raise about $16 billion a year.

Raising long-frozen excise taxes on alcohol could raise about $14 billion a year.

Over 10 years, such taxes could raise between $200 billion and $300 billion, taking a big bite out of the federal deficit, while simultaneously reducing public health problems caused by those products.

So why aren’t our elected officials even talking about it?

Please take action today to urge your two Senators and your Representative in Congress to support new taxes on sugary drinks and hikes in alcohol taxes to help avoid pushing the country off the “fiscal cliff” at year’s end.  Soda and other sugary drinks are fueling an epidemic of expensive-to-treat health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.   Alcohol abuse contributes to liver disease, cancers, and injuries that cost taxpayers billions.

The White House and Congress are weighing difficult choices, such as raising income taxes on middle-class families or cutting important social programs.  Shouldn’t sugary drink and alcohol taxes at least be part of the conversation?

Please contact Congress today.

Sincerely,

Michael F. Jacobson, Ph.D.
Executive Director


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